Foot covering



Dec. 3, 1946. T. N. HERBERT FOOT COVERING Filed Nov. 4, 1944 I 1 81161130 THEOTISTE N HERBERT Patented Dec. 3, i946 r 2,412,0sr 7 room." COVERING I A. Theotiste N. Herbert, Mel-ion, Pa.- Application November 4, 1944, Serial Ne. 561,871

2 Claims. (01. ss-is'z) V I This invention relates generally to knitted foot coverings andmore' particularly to a knitting article which is adapted to'be worn over the toe portion of the foot, either as a protector for the conventional hosiery as normally worn or as a protective device f'or'medic'ation, such as salve, powder'or liquid, which is applied to the skin of the foot in the treatment'of various skin (diseases; f Among the principal objects of the present invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive foot protector which is adapted to be fitted snugly and comfortably over thetoe portion of the foot and which 'is of suchconstruction that it may be worn inside of the conventional sock or stockingwithout any discomfort whatsoever to the wearer.

Indeed, a further and important object of the present invention is to provide a toe protector of the above character which is of such seamless or circular knit construction that it is devoid of any longitudinally extending seams, in consequence of which the present protector, when worn inside the foot of a sock or stocking having the usual seam in the bottom thereof, cushions the ball of the foot against the discomfort occasioned by the seam normally present in the foot of the sock or stocking.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a toe protector, the bottom or sole portion of which is knitted to provide the same with a soft, absorbent cushion and the free or open end of which is knitted to provide it with a cuff of such circumferential elasticity as to insure snug and comfortable retention of the protector about the toe portion of the foot.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will appear more fully hereinafter, it being understood that the present invention consists substantially in the combination, construction, location and relative arrangemet of parts, all as described in detail hereinafter, as shown in the accompanying drawing and as flnally pointed out in the appended claims. In the said accompanying drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of a toe protector constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention- Figure 1 is a view showing the toe covering in place upon the foot of a wearer;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the covering;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view thereof when the same is folded with its opposite sides in flatwise engagement with each other; and

wearer Figure 4 is asectional view taken bn the'line I l- 4 of Figure 3. "Referring now to'the'drawing, it "will be'j obe served that the protector of the presentinven tion is preferably formed of a seamlessgfor circular'knit main body part [0 whichisad'apted to be snugly fitted over the-toe portion'ofthe foot, the front or toe end 'I I 'of the bo'dyibei'nig closed while the rear end thereo'f, which is open as at, I2, terminates in a cuff or welt l3. Asi's well understoodin the art, by so forming the protector body of a seamless'or circular knit con struction, it is rendered free of any longitudinally extending seams therein, the absenceof which, particularly in the bottom or sole portionof'the protector, provides for greater 'jc'omfort jtothe 'whose feetmight'be sensitive to such seams. However, where such a seam may not be objectionable, the protector of the present invention may well be formed of aflat knit, fullfashioned fabric, the opposite edges of which are seamed together in accordance with conventional practice in the manufacture of fullfashioned knitted hosiery.

In the present instance, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, the seamless or circular knit body of the protector I0 is initially produced in the form of a tubular fabric upon a circular knitting machine, the cuff or welt 13 being topped on to the needles of the machine which then continues to knit the upper foot portion l4 and the lower foot-sole portion l5 down to the inner end or point l6 of the toe gore I'I. Thereafter, by reciprocatory knitting, the toe pocket I8 is produced, this pocket being composed of the upper and lower toe portions l9 and 20. The protector body is then completed by looping the forward end of the upper foot portion H to the rear edge of the upper toe portion l9, along the line 2|.

In order to provide the foot protector of the present invention with a cushioned sole portion, an additional yarn 22 is preferably interknitted with the main body yarn 23 to form elongated terry loops 24 on the inside face of the lower foot-sole portion I5 of the protector (see Figure 4). Preferably, the yarn forming these terry loops is introduced to the needles of the knitting machine in such relation to the body yarn as to carry the terry loop yarn to the back of the knitted fabric, that is, to that face of the fabric which is to form the inside of the protector, thereby rendering the terry loops invisible from the outside of the knitted article. The desired elongation of the terry loops may be obtained in any suitable manner to provide the necessary cushioning surface on the inside of the bottom or sole portion of the protector, and if desired, the elongated terry loops may be brushed to produce a fleece effect over the entire extent of said bottom or sole portion of the protector.

' The cuif or welt I3 of the protector, formed in each instance with a selvaged or otherwise finished edge 25, is preferably formed of circular knit fabric in which is incorporatedanelastic yarn or thread in accordance'with conventional practice well known and understood in the art,

suchelastic yarn being preferably incorporated in a plurality of spaced, circular courses of the knitted cuff or welt to provide the same with a greater. degree of elasticity than is character-.

istic of the main body of the protector.

It will be noted that themain body portion of theltcie protector is knitted of such shape and elasticity as to snugly and comfortably fit about thatportion of the foot which extendsforwardly of the instep and that the length of the protectorfjis extended by the cuff or welt l3 only suiiicient'lyto encompass the forward portion of theins tepc The (ml? or welt l3 with its interl mitt ed elastic yarnis provided with an inherent elasticity greater than that of the main body p ruo'a f the protector, to thereby enable said welt to snugly and comfortably conform to the shapeiof the foot in the immediate region of the arched instep portion thereof and so retain the protector in position'upon the foot.

, It will be understood, of course, that thi inentioni's" susceptible of various changes and modifications which may be made from time to tim without departing from the real spirit or general principles thereof, and it is accordingly intended to claim the same broadly as well as specifically as indicated by the appended claims.

What is claimed as new and useful is:

1. A covering adapted to he slipped over the toe and front sole portion of the foot having a main body part of plain knit fabric shaped to conform to said portion of the foot and having a toe pocket at its frontal end and a cufi or welt at its rear end adapted torsnugly fit about the foot" in the immediate region of the arched instep portion thereof, said toe pocket being provided in its opposite sides with longitudinally extending gore lines each extending from the rear end of the pocket to a point short of its front end with the upper and lower rear edges of said pocket respectively defined by lines disposed in angularly related transverse planes intersecting one another at the rear terminal points of said gore lines, and said cuff or welt being so knitted that when unextended it is of a circumferential length substantially less than the unextended circumferential length of the said main body part of the covering and having such stretch characteristic relatively to that of said main body part as to permit it (said cuff or'welt) to be circumferentially extended to a degree greater than is possible in any portion of said mainbody part of the covering. I

2. In a foot covering of the character defined in claim 1 wherein the main body part thereof throughout the "region extending between the lower rear edge ofthe toe pocket and the terminal cuff or welt is interknitted' with a yarn formed into terryloops to provide a cushioned v surfac on the inside face of the sole portion of the covering. v V THEOTISTE N. HERBERT. 

